I'll never forget him
by shurfine
Summary: Edited. "You can't keep thinking about what could have been! Ron would have never wanted you to do that!" He said. "Don't pretend to know what he would have wanted Harry!" She said loudly, fully disturbing the beat of the rain. "You don't know anything"


Her arms were held out to either side of her. Drops of water were falling on her violently, but her clothes merely sucked it up greedily. The droplets that fell on her face simply mingled with her tears and rolled down her cheeks unchecked. All she could hear was the sound of the rain hitting the tar in repetitive motions, calming her bruised soul.

"Why do you like the rain so much?" A voice startled her out of the reverie and she was momentarily upset. He had broken the rhythm of the music, the calm. She knew the voice though, and knew if she didn't speak truthfully, he would question her relentlessly.

"Because," she said, her voice rose barely above the rhythmic beating of the rain, "it's the only time I can cry, and not feel so alone," she confessed, face still upturned to the charcoal sky.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and she closed her eyes. "You should cast a drying charm," He added and she ignored him. Those weren't important enough to answer. "You're going to catch your death out here," he finally muttered, and she let out a little, humorless laugh.

"I've been dead long before now, Harry," she responded, letting her hands drop slowly to her sides, as if defeated. She turned slightly to him, ignoring the way the water ran down her face and into her mouth, as if trying to help form the words she wanted to say so badly.

People laughed in the distance, a family she realized. A father and mother running with two kids. The father was shielding the wife and baby from the rain with his umbrella while the other child carried his own. The husband was soaked and she gave a little heartbroken smile as they rushed into the house and shut the door tight. You could see the husband and wife kissing through the window, before they moved further into the house to get dry.

She turned his gaze back to Harry, and he shook his head.

"You can't keep thinking about what could have been! Ron would have never wanted you to do that! He would've wanted you to move on in life-"

"Don't pretend to know what he would have wanted Harry!" She said loudly, fully disturbing the beat of the rain. "You don't know anything!" Her voice lowered back to it's normal level at the last statement.

"I know that he loved you! We were only kids then, but I knew that despite his immaturity-" The rain slapped hard down, the thunder rolled and a flash of lightening was seen. The rain became harder, more insistent.

"He jumped in front of the _Killing Curse_ for me Harry! Not some stupid Stinging Hex! I hardly call that immature!" She yelled at him, hair whipping at her face as she turned fully to see him.

"He loved you. I would do the same for Ginny."

"And you think Ginny wouldn't feel the same way I do?" She asked hysterically.

"No, she wouldn't!"

"You don't know anything, Harry! Ginny would be just as distraught as I am!"

"It's been twenty years!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands out to each side of him in exasperation. He hadn't bothered to cast a Drying Charm, so he was just as soaked as she was. His jet black hair was sticking to his forehead and his glasses had water droplets that blurred his vision. He never did learn to cast that charm she had taught him.

"Harry, you don't know what it's like. To love someone so much, you're physically ill from it. You hurt yourself, just to see if you can still feel. How you cry yourself to sleep at night, wondering how their arms would have felt around you. Wanting to see them, just to ease the ache in your heart that won't ever go away. You try so hard to forget them, to move on, but it hurts so _damn_ much!" She said. "Where you breathe shallowly, just to catch your breath because it feels as if your heart was ripped out of you. How you cling to their memories, just so you won't ever forget a thing about them. How they smile, how they laughed, how they hugged, fought... kissed." She spoke the last word so quietly the rain almost covered it, but Harry had heard it. She moved her fingers to her lips that still tingled as if they had just shared that kiss. Her eyes closed tightly as her breath hitched in her throat. "You don't know what it's like Harry," she said quietly, voice barely carrying through the area between them.

"You're right... I don't. I don't think I ever could, because I have Ginny. But I can help you get through this..."

"No, you can't... Not unless you can bring him from the dead..." She said, a sob breaking through her little speech.

"You know that's impossible," his voice was agonized.

She felt the knife against her back and closed her eyes, nodding.

"Yeah, Harry, I do," her voice was choked with emotion. She let out a little sob and put her fingers around the handle of the knife. "But I love him just too damn much..." She whispered. "If he would have only realized it sooner," she continued, shaking her head. The rain beat encouragingly against her and she closed her eyes. "Tell everyone I love them. And that I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just tell them for me, okay Harry?" Her voice was sharp. The water flowing in her mouth seemed to fight against her words now. Choking her in her own sea of despair.

"Of course," Harry was confused. That was when she pulled out the knife and let it rest at her side. "What are you doing?" She didn't even dare look at his face. She was too captivated by the silver shine of the weapon held beside her.

"I'm going to kill them, Harry. I'm going to kill the person who did this to my Ronald" she replied and he relaxed ever so slightly. "Tell everyone I love them," she repeated, quietly, as not to disturb the ever so important beat. She noticed Harry's hand held his wand, down by his side. He didn't seem to care that they were in a Muggle neighborhood. She smiled sadly at him, before taking the knife and swiftly plunging it into her chest, quicker than Harry could disarm her. It slid easily through her wet clothes, and split her skin as if it were no more than a simple stick of butter. Her hands fell from the handle and hit her sides dimly.

She gasped and stared doe-eyed towards Harry. His face had a look of horror across it, and she felt her knees buckle. Hands caught her and laid her gently on the ground, turning her onto her back every so slowly. The rain now returned it's landing on her face.

"Hermione! HERMIONE!" Harry's voice rose hysterically, and with a small grunt, he pulled the knife from her chest, and dropped it to the ground beside them. Rain pounded her face and body, now not only mixing with her tears, but her blood. It ran in diluted streams down her body, and onto the street. She heard Harry dimly, sobbing into the night, screaming for help, trying to heal her. The wound was too deep. She was smart enough to do it too deeply for anyone to save her. By the time help came, it would be too late.

"Don't worry Harry... this doesn't hurt... my heart left with Ron twenty years ago," She said, trying to ease his pain in a way no one ever could ease hers. His sounds stopped as he looked down at her. His glasses had more droplets on them, but she wasn't so sure that they were just rain anymore.

"I hope you find happiness, Hermione. You deserve it," He said quietly, his wand dropped by the knife. He picked her upper body up and cradled her head in his lap, kissing her forehead. "I love you Hermione," he whispered to her.

"I... I love... you too... Harry," she choked out, tasting the blood in her mouth.

She could feel it. The ending she had waited for was coming.

Black tinted her vision and she closed her eyes against it, body still bringing in shuddering breaths. Slowly though, her body stopped fighting, and she opened her eyes to look at Harry. Instead, she didn't see the tear-struck green eyes of her friend. She saw the blue eyes of her wanted lover. The black hair was replaced with ginger and freckles took over his face. He was much more mature looking, as though he had aged with her.

"Ron." She spoke that word with her last breath, and she felt her body fail her slowly. _'Ron, don't leave me.'_

And he spoke the next words with the voice she hadn't heard in twenty years.

_'Don't worry love, I never have.'_

A/N: This version is edited, I thank my Beta Anubis Ankh (who has an excellent story, you should go check it out). So now that it's new and improved, review? I know authors beg for them, and it gets annoying, but you really don't know (unless you are an author of course) how much it helps to receive a review, even if it is a flame. Something is better than nothing.

I hope you liked the story, I have never written anything Ron/Hermione, so I hope I did a decent job. Thanks for reading!


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